Interference
by DeadisDeadisDead
Summary: Grima cheated. He brought himself back into the past so that he could win the future. It's only fair I brought someone back too. [This is an alternate adaptation of FE:A. Set between after Chapter 11 and onwards.] {Pairings undecided. Both male and female Robin will be in the story.}
1. Chapter 1

Interference

Chapter 1

* * *

There are many tomes and scrolls detailing the hidden wonders and anomalies that exist in the world. None of them mentioned how annoying the Lady of Coin was. I can see her smug grin widen at my confusion but my head is still drawing blanks, so I swallow my pride and ask.

"He… _cheated_?" Even now my voice sound alien to me, but I could at least make out my own sarcasm.

"I thought you lost your memories, not your wit. Of course he cheated." She leans back from her perch on the wagon. We've been on the road for a day now though she tells me not the destination. I could hardly imagine where we would be going seeing how all around us was a vast span of rolling hills and prairie grass.

"You are calling ripping a hole into another timeline and sending over his consciousness _cheating?_ Do you not mean…"

"Awe-inspiring?" She counts each of the adjectives with her fingers. "Impossible? Impressive?"

"I was going for ridiculous. If Grima can truly meddle with time, how can we stop him?"

"_We'_re not. You are."

I pause. "…You are not helping?"

"I can't. It's against the _rules_." She accentuates _rules_ by quoting with her hands.

"Then what do you call bringing me over?"

She flashes a sly smile, "Cheating."

My hand gravitates toward my face. There was no winning this. Time to change my approach. "Let me get this straight. Grima resurrects and takes over the world ten years hence, but someone managed to complete the Fire Emblem and drove him back. This time however he had a perfect vessel and sent himself back to now where he can prevent such a thing from ever happening. How am I doing so far?"

The Lady of Coin shrugs and makes a so-so gesture with her hand, "More or less."

"So you brought me here from another timeline to help save the world?"

"Yup."

"You chose me for a reason." I sank as a thought crosses my mind, "Am I the vessel?"

"Impressive."

"I lost my memories, not my wits."

"We'll see about that. What do you think of Ardri?"

The name resonated in my head and I answer almost without thinking. "He has been digging around in old magic. Really old. He seeks my father's approval and desperately wants to get into Grima's good graces. As of late he has been researching blood magic and was close to a break-through." I turn my head to shoot a questioning look, "How do I know that?"

"The memories aren't all lost. They're still in that head of yours." Her smile falls, "Though some will be lost forever. I'm sorry."

Being apologized to by the Lady of Coin while I was sitting in her wagon was almost as surreal as the entire situation at hand. I simply cannot deal with it, so instead I change the topic. "Validar wants to be like you, you know."

That gives her pause, "Like me?"

"You know. The Midnight Merchant. The Scarlet Shopkeeper. The Lady of Coin."

"I go by Anna now."

I shrugged and continue as nonchalantly as I could, but inside I was incredulous. _Anna?_ "He wants to be an idea. Ideas do not die." _Really? Anna?_

"Why not vampirism?"

"Undeath is not really life. Dead is dead is dead. That is why he won't settle for simulacrums or ancillaries or vampirism. He truly wants to live forever. That is why he heads the Grimleal. That is why he strives to drive terror in everyone around him. That is why he wants to resurrect Grima."

"It won't work."

"Tell him that."

It is nearly dawn now, the sun almost visible from the horizon. Though my body is tired, my mind is alert and is processing everything that transpired over the day. It took a while, but soon my eyes closed as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When I came to, it seemed as though we had arrived. Anna had parked the wagon inside some dusty old ruins. If the setting sun was any indication, I was out for half a day. As I step outside I found her sitting against the wall gazing out onto the plains. By her foot was a bundled pack.

"This is as far as I can take you." She nudges the bundle my way.

"Where are we?"

"Where you need to be. You know Ardri?"

"He has been digging around in old magic-"

"Yes, yes. Well, he's about to conduct a ritual using a very important person. Someone you will need to save if you are going to change fate. You'll have to get a move on within the next few hours."

"Alone. You want me to face Ardri _alone_."

"You'll do fine against him and his rabid followers. Your magic is… different in this world. Help is also coming."

"Who, me?" I jest as I unravel the bundle, inside was a Levin sword... _And my tome._ My heart almost skips a beat as I heft the reassuring weight in my hand.

"Yes. And she's not alone."

I was so engrossed with my tome that it was nearly five seconds later when I finally process what she had just said.

"_She?_" But by then, Anna and her wagon was gone.

* * *

Anna was not jesting when she mentioned the magic being different here. The leylines have been left virtually untapped and I feel tremors of power even as I gently probe the source. The flames I have tried so hard to conjure before now come readily at the slightest provocation. I feel my tome pulse as I leaf through familiar spells.

But even with nearly infinite mana supplying me with power I remain extremely pessimistc. If I could draw in this much power, how much could Ardri wield?

The clouds above me began to collapse and unravel, forming an ominous hole slightly to the north in an otherwise cloud-filled sky. Ardri's ceremony had begun. It is time.

* * *

I thought I had a brilliant plan. I still wore the garments of a high-ranking Grimleal sorcerer and thought that I would stroll in, locate whoever it was that needed saving, and stroll out whilst spewing Pegasus shite about how Validar needed the prisoner alive and escorted away to a private location. It was only after I had approached one of the scouts and asked in an extremely obnoxious and high-borne manner to be escorted to the ceremony that I have come to realize how ridiculous this plan was. I cursed my own shortsightedness when I realized some of my assumptions were wrong.

I was feeling incredibly smug at first when Ardri was only happy to comply with the request. I had enough knowledge to fib my way through most of the conversation during the walk to the prisoners, which was fortunate because the old, decrepit man could talk for ages on end.

"Is Validar unhappy with my work?" He asked as we stood outside the prisoner cell, ever the gracious servant.

"I assure you, my lord has expressed only the highest interest in your… experiments. He simply requires a specific person to be a catalyst in his own work."

"And who may this person be? Why are they so important?"

"Surely you, of all people, understand the need of secrecy." I was proud of how confident I sounded, because inside I was screaming _Gods. Gods. GODS._

"But of course."

The first incorrect assumption I had made was that there was only going to be one prisoner. Ardri must have been hard at work procuring the sheer amount of people he had for this experiment. Men and women, boys and girls, there must have been at least twenty people huddled together in chains. To be able to identify 'the chosen one' was nearly impossible within the time frame I've given myself.

"Who is the prisoner Validar seeks?"

I had to think fast. "I am afraid that I will not be able to see if they are all cowering like sheep. Get them to line up across the wall."

"Of course."

I took the time whilst pretending to examine each and every one of the prisoners to decide my next course of action. Ardri was already becoming suspicious of me even if I had supplied him with enough information to be satisfied. My father had always boasted that he employed only the strongest and most powerful of sorcerers and Ardri had years of experience over me. Fighting was going to be a definite last resort. I did not want to be a hero and die in the process but at the same time I had no idea whom Anna needed saving.

I finish 'examining' the last prisoner before Ardri asks again. "Have you found what our lord desires?"

"I have." I paused for effect, "It seems everyone here has met his criterion. See that they are released under my care immediately."

Ardri met my gaze, almost incredulous. "_All _of them?"

I was unwilling to break the eye contact. "Yes."

"Surely you can leave three? The ritual demands blood and I must complete my work."

"Validar is certain that you will be able to procure blood with your unique talents. Or do you want to answer to him when he asks why you hindered his own great plans for a mere experiment?"

Ardri does a great impression of a fish, opening and closing his mouth with buggered eyes before his eyes clouds over.

"Of course." He turns and motions over to his escorts. "Free the prisoners."

I had only began exhaling slowly before he turns back. "But first, Nightbloom."

Nightbloom was one of the many pair-code phrases my father uses to authenticate his messengers. He did not have a shortage of enemies or their spies, so ciphers and code-phrases were commonplace amongst those who travel between sects of the Grimleal. I almost laughed in relief from knowing the secret pair-word.

"Chrysalis." I answered.

I had barely a second to raise my ward before a dozen tendrils of lightning smashed into it. My confusion lasted a fraction of a second before I realized that I have made a second incorrect assumption. My magic acted differently in this world and according to Anna I was a woman instead of a man here. Who was to say that the pair-word would be different?

The magical barrage cleared up, revealing Ardri with his face scrunched up into a sneer. "You nearly fooled me there, _boy_." He spat that last word out, "But you'll soon learn to regret crossing me." Behind him several guards poured into the room, some with arbalests out others with tomes of power.

That was when I realized how stupid I was. I could not retaliate without dropping the ward, lest I let the prisoners behind me become unfortunate victims of crossfire. My favored elemental Fire was out of the question as I could very well burn up everyone in the room. That is why Ardri's mages is sticking with lightning. My ward takes the brunt of another couple dozen blasts of lightning and it almost falters. Luckily I had a huge reserve of mana underneath my foot and I renewed the ward with ease. I realized with a sinking feeling that while I could stall for a while the end result was the same.

Ardri figured that out as well, "You have power, but not nearly enough power to escape from here. My men will see to your death." Then he leaves as though I was a passing nuisance.

His men do not and begin hammering at the ward while I start to tire out. Though the mana here was nearly limitless, my willpower and strength was not.

I feel a hand rest on my shoulder. "I… help." I was confused by the strong grip of the hand in constrast with the almost childish pronunciation of 'help'. I crane my neck to see a blond-haired woman wearing a tattered robe. "Help." She repeated.

I felt the source surge within her, she too was an arcanist. Not nearly as strong as Ardri or me, but strong enough.

"Can you ward?" She nods slowly, as if she hadn't the slightest clue her life was in danger. "Can you ward against seven mages?" She nods again, but holds up five fingers. "Five seconds. You can manage five seconds?" One more nod.

I let her take over.

Five seconds was plenty.

_One._ I step forwards and the woman behind me throws up her own ward. I drop mine.

_Two_. The two magi to my left throw arced lightning. I cast them off as if they were nothing. The magi in front of me can hardly call themselves practitioners of the Art. They use enchanted tomes as a catalyst and cast through them. My father scorned those who relied on imbued totems and beat the habit out of me when I was younger.

_Three._ The magi's heads implode as I blasted them apart with compressed air. That gets the rest of the soldier's attention. The arbalests fire, but my ward knocks them away mid-flight.

_Four._ The soldiers begin closing in with their swords drawn. I drop my ward and begin channeling my source. The man closest to me widens his eyes in terror as he swings his sword. He realizes that he's too slow. Too late.

_Five._ The air crackles with energy as a blinding bolt of lightning strikes down and forwards. The man in front of me is reduced to a charred heap of molten metal. The others did not fare much better. The one survivor drops his arbalest and runs for his life. I sever his head and watch as it hits the ground before his body does.

I feel the ward behind me drop and the woman falls to her knees drenched in sweat. The prisoners behind her weep and cry, some of them retch. I do not blame them, it smells worse than the rot.

The woman was different. She gets up and stands straight. She gives me a firm nod and suddenly I feel as though I'm in front of nobility again. Like a child in front of my father. I nod back and cut the chains binding the prisoners with air. Some of them wince. I must have scared them by severing a head with the same trick.

"We need to leave. Follow me, I will protect you." I try to look as harmless as possible.

The prisoners look from charred corpses on the ground back to me.

The woman was different. She steps forward and holds out her hand. "I… Emmeryn."

I take it. "I am Robin."

* * *

**A/N:** I am fairly new to writing fanfiction or writing in general really. I just recently got the game and was saddened how there wasn't many Awakening fanfictions out there, so I decided to try to help the cause.

I am extremely busy with exams at the moment so updates will be slow over this month. I will however try my best to keep writing!

If there are any comments, concerns, what have you, please leave me a comment or PM me. I genuinely want to improve my craft, and I know that there are some... discrepancies with tenses that I hope to address in the future. I wanted to push this out as fast as possible to test the waters and see if you guys liked what I was giving, and to adapt as needed.

In any case, I hope you enjoy this story!


	2. Chapter 2

Interference

Chapter 2

* * *

We had a plan. I would go in front and check for enemies. After it was all clear Emmeryn would escort the prisoners down while I checked the next corridor. Easy enough, yet I could not shake the feeling that escaping from Ardri's temple would be so simple.

"_Elthunder!_" I had drawn up too much power and had a hard time connecting to the source, so I stuck to baser spells to conserve my energy. I dove back and pulled up a weak dispersion ward. I do not recognize my assailant's face, but it did not matter who attacked me. The ward bought me time as I assess and plan.

Or it would have had I noticed another mage casting blades of air from the other side. I threw up another quick ward. Most of it dispersed into the ground but I wasn't quick enough to avoid a few slices to my face. The dripping blood clouds over my left eye as a reminder for me to be more attentive. I slice the wind mage's neck with a slash of air. He clutches his throat as his life pours out of him.

The first mage does not hesitate. "_Elthunder!_" My ward was ready this time and catches the bolts in the air.

Then I charge him.

He was not expecting that. "_Elthunder! Elthunder! Elthunder!_" Gods above, does this person know any other spells?

My ward fizzes out of existence as I came within arm's reach. I throw up a reflection ward.

"_Elthunder!_" With that spell his fate is sealed. The reflection ward dissipates almost immediately after casting it, does not protect against stronger variants of magic, and is not guaranteed to reflect spells back in the same general reflection; but the man is a one trick pony and I was right beside him when I put up the ward.

His corpse held an astonished look as it hits the floor. Arcs of lightning crackle around on his body. Something falls beside my feet. It is an Elthunder tome. No wonder. This is why you do not rely on enchanted catalysts.

I whistle down the corridor to signal Emmeryn the all-clear.

Down the hall, through the left doors, straight through the main entrance. We're free.

The septic smell in the air hits me harder than the deafening boom of a nearby explosion.

I look up.

A scar of bright green light hung in the carrion-black sky. Pegasus knights clash under the starless night. A blizzard of arrows shrilled in the air as they buried shadowed figures. Screams fill the air as the ground drowns in blood and gore.

I had stumbled away from a prison break and onto a battlefield.

A dull pain rings in my head. Then I see light.

Everywhere and everything. White.

Blood.

Blood and dirt.

Armored boots.

I'm on the ground. The Grimleal has me surrounded.

Sound.

One of the men says something but I do not hear him.

My arm burns.

Who is dragging me?

Who is screaming?

Going, going…

Gone.

* * *

When I was a child I struggled with magic and had little patience for such tasks that required control. There was a time where even fire eluded my grasp, yet my father saw something in me and never gave up even when I had.

"Try again." He motioned towards the fireplace. I was frustrated. After nearly an hour of trying I had yet to conjure a simple flame. So I cheated. I hunched over the logs and took out an amulet, channeling through it as a catalyst.

He killed the flames almost as soon as they latched onto the logs. He caught me. I thought I was going to be scolded and yelled at. Instead my father held his hand out, his expression calm and relaxed as before. I gave him the amulet and he looked at it with minor interest.

"I've lived for a very long time now and I've come to realize that everyone shares at least one thing in common. Do you know what that is?" I shake my head. "Everyone is weak. Weakness is everywhere and it manifests in different people in different ways. Some people spend their days idling about, some steal, some cheat. These people will never reach their full potential. They are weak. Yet without weakness there is no strength. Power comes from the willingness to overcome weakness. Power is the determination to overcome our natural boundaries."

He extends the amulet back to me. "You have a choice now. You can choose to use the amulet or you can choose to be strong."

I did not take the amulet back.

I wanted to make my father proud more than ever.

When I tried again the flames came.

* * *

White.

Then red.

Fire.

Torches.

I see a man holding his arms towards the scar in the sky. He is holding a ceremonial knife.

Kneeling in front of him were the prisoners. A few with their throats cut.

I try to move. I'm bound in chains.

He notices me. His sadistic grin widens.

"So glad to have you join us." He says, "I was beginning to fear that you'll miss the main event." Ardri gestures to the prisoners, they recoil in fear. He crouches down and gently holds a woman by her head. She's shaking uncontrollably, unable to scream. I scan around me. Emmeryn is still alive, cradling a child no older than five. I glare back at Ardri but he noticed I shifted my eyes. He starts for Emmeryn, walking as if he has all the time in the world. He doesn't. Even now I can hear the shuffling of metal and the cries of battle. I was out for ten minutes, maybe twenty tops.

He holds up my tome. _My tome._ "It seems we have something in common." Ardri continues his monologue, "We are both men of intellect. The spells and incantations you have here are of a different caliber. Who sent you?"

I stay silent. He leans and grabs the child from Emmeryn. She resists but Ardri kicks her down. The child is crying now. Ardri pats his head.

"You will answer eventually. The question that remains is at what price?" He runs his thumb over his knife before raising it over his head.

"Wait." He turns his gaze back to me, "You are right. You're a man of intellect."

Ardri gestures with the knife for me to continue.

"So you know what it means if I say Validar sent me." I did not care if he believed me or not, I just need more time.

That gives Ardri pause. "You're lying. You didn't know the pair-code."

I shake my head, "No Ardri, you've been ex-communicated. You didn't know the new code because you've been cast off."

He stares at me. Then he laughs. "You're so full of Pegasus shite aren't you? I'm the one with all the cards here. You have nothing else to play." He pats the top of the child's head. "You have no power here. Power demands sacrifice. Surely you know this."

Then he plunges the knife into the child's gut and leaves it there. The child screams. A gut wound like that is a slow, agonizing death.

The tear in the sky collapses into a singularity. A blinding green dot in the sky.

Then it streaks down and into Ardri's chest.

I understood conceptual magic when I see it. People believe blood has power. That belief feeds power into blood. Power is blood and blood is power. It is the same type of magic that the Gods themselves harness.

I could feel the source surge within him as he reached down into the leylines. He laughs.

Then he stalks up to me.

"Who sent you?"

I say, "Look behind you."

"_Do not insult my intelligence_." He hisses, "I could boil your eyes out of their sockets. I can make you play a violin made of your own intestines. I can make you feel a pain on a level you wouldn't even be able to comprehend. Do not _dare_ tempt my patience. Now. Who. Sent. You?"

"I am serious. Look behind you."

Ardri rolls his eyes and dramatically cranes his head. Then his jaw drops as he does a double take.

Emmeryn literally shimmers with power. Floating slightly above the ground with her eyes glowing emerald green.

"Hello, Ardri."

The knife Ardri stuck the child with plunges hilt-deep into his arm as a fury of wind knocks him a solid fifteen feet away. I looked up to see Emmeryn with a hand on the child's shoulder, who seemed no worse for wear. Gods above, Emmeryn is _good_ at healing.

She shatters the chains that binds me but stops me when I started drawing from the source.

"He is mine." She says with an authority that commanded obedience.

I did not think I would have been of any use in my state. My right arm looks charred and raw. Just looking at it hurts. Emmeryn gives me one final nod and calmly glides over to where Ardri landed.

Let me take the moment to explain how magic duels go. When people think of dueling, they think of flashy spells, explosions, and a drawn out fight that cumulates into a final attack showdown. That could not be further from the truth. Fights last seconds at most and will almost always end up with someone dead.

Ardri gets up looking red in the face. He snarls as he draws from the source.

There was a flash of light, red-white and so bright that the sun would've looked dim in comparison as Ardri conjures up a sphere of fire beside himself, no larger than my head.

Then the sphere ruptures onto his head and takes out half his body.

Emmeryn appeared over the spilled molten fire, the emerald green blaze in her eyes extinguished. "…Robin? …You… Hurt?"

I stared.

Gods above.

What Emmeryn just did was unbelievable even to me. She had fired a slice of wind and ripped open a tear in the sphere of fire at just the right spot for Ardri to kill his own dumb ass. She had displayed a level of control and quick-thinking that would have impressed even my father. Cutting with wind is really, really hard to do if you do not know the limitations. Wind dissipates faster than any other element over long distances but it is also quicker and nearly invisible.

That explains her healing ability as well, healing a gut wound is something far beyond my ability to even attempt. Emmeryn more than makes up her average raw power with nearly surgical precision.

I have not felt so humbled in a long time. I am good with fire.

But Emmeryn was _good_ with _wind_.

I ignored my right arm as it screamed in pain and climbed back onto my feet. Then I flipped on a ward just as two blood-stained Pegasus lands not twenty paces away from me. Their riders levelled lances towards me as a blue-haired man jumped off. He started towards us but stopped dead in his tracks as his face twists into a look of pure astonishment.

"H-how? _Sister_?" His gaze turns murderous towards me. "What foul magic is this?" I kept my ward pointed towards him, he looks like he is about to draw his sword out.

"Oh my gosh! Emm?" Another blond hair woman starts running towards Emmeryn, I take a few steps back to keep my distance. Emmeryn seems to know these people. When the blond girl hugs her she returned it. That did not win me any points from the blue haired man, who looked at me as if I had all the answers.

"Sis…ter? I… I…" Emmeryn clutches her head in pain.

Blue-hair puts a protective hand on Emmeryn and turns to me, "Explain."

"I was trying to break the prisoners out, turns out she did not need much help. Beyond that I do not know of her." Seeing the prisoners huddled behind me seemed to do the trick. One moment the man was all suspicion, the next he's concerned for everyone.

"Then you may have my apologies and thanks. You look just like the rest of _them_. My name is Chrom. Please, allow me to invite you to our camp."

I blinked. That was easy.

"Honestly, do you trust people you meet by chance?" A feminine voice got my attention. "You look pretty banged up. Do you need help?"

I brush the blood out of my eye to get a better look at the approaching figure and felt my jaw slacken.

The same violet eyes. The same silver hair. The same damn tome.

This cannot be happening. Anna told me before-hand, but this…

She mistook my own astonishment as discomfort, "Oh. My apologies. My name is Robin." She extends her hand towards me, "You are?"

I take her hand. "I am Robin."

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you three who took the time to review the first chapter and thank you two who took the time to follow my story! You five inspired me to continue writing, and I hope I do not disappoint.

Special mention goes to Nila_FE and Trueblade74 for their critique :D

As always, please review and give me critique! Tell me what you like and what you don't! It'll help me adapt the story in my head so that I can present it better for you guys!


	3. Chapter 3

Interference

Chapter 3

* * *

I am a sorcerer first and foremost, magic is what I feed off of. I, like most arcanists, draw most of my strength from the leylines that sleeps beneath the ground. In the port town a different type of magic drives me.

From the fishermen hauling in the first catch of the day to the merchants setting up their stores; from the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked bread to the hammering of the smith's forge.

The town shrugs off the last of its sleep and wakes up.

I wake up with it.

I find myself in a room and try to sit up, but I feel a firm hand gently push me down back onto the soft bed. I trace the arm back to a familiar face. The blonde women who had ran up to Emmeryn from the night before.

"You need rest." She says, taking a towel and placing it on my forehead. She checks the bandages on my chest and face. I notice with a panic that I was not wearing my cloak nor my tunic. "I'm surprised you're even awake. After a night like that I'd thought you would be out until at least noon."

"Where am I? Who are you?" I try to say, instead it came out as, "Whreggghh arggh? Whargghh?"

"Shhh… don't talk. You're in Port Ferox at an inn. I'm Lissa. Nice to meet you Robin."

There is a knock on the door to my room. Lissa opens it and talks to someone I cannot see, but what catches my eye is the two Pegasus riders from last night standing guard outside my room. Were they there to keep people out or were they there to keep me in?

"He's awake, but only just." Lissa replies softly, though to who I cannot say. "His arm is all kinds of messed up too. I wouldn't let him leave the room."

"I just want to talk to him." My heart skips a beat. I know that voice and I am not sure if I want to talk to the one who owns it. Lissa leaves the room and closes the door behind her as Robin steps in.

The same cloak. The same violet eyes. The same silver hair.

She says nothing as she pulls up a chair beside me and then takes out my tome from within her cloak.

_My tome._

My education revolved around The Book. If I saw a spell I did not know my father referred me to The Book. My father had his own version of The Book with notes scribbled in along the margins. So did his grandfather. And his forefather. They each guarded their version jealously. The Book is _Balinar's Comprehensive Theory of Anima Magic, Third Edition_ and according to my father it is the journeyman sorcerer's holy bible. Every arcanist worth anything carries one with them at all times. Every arcanist worth anything probably has a few of their own custom spells written into the many blank pages at the end. The Book, as my father puts it, is my life.

So it took nearly everything I had to stop myself from snatching my Book out of her hands. I took it as graciously as possible. I thought I had lost it when Ardri incinerated himself.

"I hope you don't mind, but I leafed through it." She pauses to brush a long lock of silver hair and tuck it behind her ear. "Its magical signature almost matches mine. A few of the spells penned in are identical to mine." She takes a deep breath, preparing for the big question.

"Are you my son?"

I pause.

Then I laugh.

Robin tilts her head slightly to the side questioningly, waiting for my answer.

"If you were a man, you would be me." I explain. Robin nods in understanding, surprising me with how fast she accepted it. What was with these people and trust? "Why would you think that I am your son?"

"We picked up two people from the future. Daughters of the Shepherds." I could hear the capital S in Shepherds. "I just thought… with your cloak and mine, our tomes…" She trails off and gives me a deliberate once over. "So many scars." She traces one gently on my shoulder. "What happened?"

The touch sends a flurry of sensations down into my stomach; something intangible, uncontrollable, and undefinable. I don't like it. I turn away. "An accident with some fire spell."

"Your left hand? Looks like something bit it."

"I tried a spell from father's books. Swore off summoning ever since."

Robin crosses her legs and cradles her head with her hands, contemplating. "You remember." Her violet eyes narrow in thought. "I don't remember anything from the past at all."

"I only have bits and pieces but more and more of it is coming back to me."

"You remember mother?"

"Just father. Nothing really recent either."

Her eyes light up in excitement, "Tell me everything. How did you end up here? What do you remember?"

"The Lady of Coin brought me here. Said she wanted to even up the odds."

"Who's the Lady of Coin?" Gods above, that tilt of the head she does whenever she is confused…

"Uh." I say. "The Scarlet Shopkeeper? The Midnight Merchant? Secret Seller? Conceptual magic?"

"I only remember a very preliminary lesson on it."

That… sounds a lot like _him _actually. My father always thought men were more suited to the… abstract perspective that conceptual magic required. He always pushed people to rely on their strengths to make up for their faults. I would not be surprised if my father skipped teaching conceptual magic to me if he thought I was better at something else.

Robin leans in, eager to hear more. "Tell me everything." She repeats.

I have a better idea.

* * *

Like everyone else here in Port Ferox, I am drawn to the market.

The streets bustles with energy and even I cannot push against its flow.

The people walk to the market.

I walk with them.

Robin trails behind me. She wants to ask me something but decides against it.

Shopkeepers all around broadcast their wares.

"Delicious game meat! Fresh from the wilds!"

"Fish straight out of the water!"

I stop in front of an empty stall and Robin nearly bumps in to me. I take out a gold coin and flip it into the air. It lands tails up. I move on.

"What are you doing?" Robin asks me curiously.

"There is a pretty common saying amongst merchants, 'Open so long as there's money to be made'." I stop in front of another empty stall and flip the coin. Tails again. I move on. "Conceptual magic works like that."

We come to yet another empty stall. I flip the coin. Heads. This time I turn around and start heading back.

The empty stall we had previously passed by was suddenly full of eccentric weapons, armors, and trinkets. Perched on a stool behind the counter was a woman with scarlet hair.

"Welcome! What can I interest you in?" Anna asks brightly, a sly smile on her face.

"Robin, meet the Lady of Coin." I gesture.

"Please, it's Anna!" Anna motions for us to come closer. Robin hangs back with a thoughtful look.

"I think I get it." She says.

I give Anna the gold coin, "Might we talk over some tea?"

* * *

We were settling down at a small table Anna had set up behind the stall when Robin starts asking me the big questions.

"How does Anna come into the picture? How did you come here?"

"I cheated." The Secret Seller says at the same time I say, "She cheated."

Robin motions for us to elaborate.

"Can't say much," Anna makes a shush gesture, "I wouldn't be much of a Secret Seller if I told. Let's just say it involved my unique disposition and abilities. I'm not exactly mortal, you know."

"She brought me here to the past so I can change the future. Except, this is not really the past."

"Hmm." Robin sips her tea, "So what does the future bring?"

I told her what I knew of the Valm invasion, what happens during the Chon'sin rebellion, but beyond that my memory fails me.

"You lost most of your forces at sea?"

"The Valmese naval forces vastly outnumbered ours. We sent decoy ships and divided our forces up. We could not match them man for man, so we tried to swarm past them. Not everyone made it."

"How many ships?"

"Sorry?"

"How many ships did you have?"

"Just as much as theirs. The problem was the amount of men they had."

"Why not vacate some ships, save for a skeleton crew, and rig them up for a collision course?"

Robin would continue to ask me questions, why something succeeded or failed, and then sit quietly sipping her tea while she thought of several plans and countless contingencies for every single battle. It became very, very clear to me over time that Robin was a formidable strategist and extremely observant. This was what my father probably would have pushed his daughter to excel at.

"Who does Chrom marry?" I was about to answer the innocuous question but Anna's chuckle made me reconsider. Wait, '_does_'? Has Chrom not chosen his wife yet? I caught the Midnight Merchant hiding her mischievous grin behind her tea. Was I dense? Could it be possible that Robin… likes Chrom? Like _that_? The thought made me feel uneasy, probably because I am unable to see myself marry the prince.

"I don't know. I don't remember." I lie. Robin's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Besides, even if I told you things will probably be different. Nothing in this world is exactly the same as it was in mine. Even me being here will definitely change events." Why am I trying to justify myself?

Robin stares at me from behind her tea, as if she was analyzing my thoughts.

"Tell me about conceptual magic." She changes topic. Gods above, why do I feel so relieved?

Just as I start to answer, Anna pulls out a deck of cards and starts shuffling. I recognize the surge of power immediately and open my mouth to protest, but something in Anna's eyes stopped me. She extends the Deck to Robin.

"Draw a card." The Lady of Coin says. Robin is smart enough to recognize the sheer power, if not the significance, of the magic at work here. She reluctantly reaches for the Deck, her hand trembling as it closes around the top card.

"I feel as though a tempest is held within these cards." Robin says softly.

"The Gods are calling. Draw a card." Anna repeats.

Robin turns over the Baron of the Night.

"The Fell Dragon is quick to claim the stage." Anna sighs, "Fearless. Decisive. Close-minded. We are fortunate that he is slow to learn."

Robin takes the moment to look at the card. Though the Baron's face was indistinguishable and blurred, from where I was sitting I could see that the Baron's fire-hot gaze was locked with Robin's own amethyst eyes. The Baron's shadowy cloak concealed all but the gauntlet that clasped the hilt of his sheathed sword. _You claim your own bloodkin, but you don't trust just anyone with your secrets, do you? Even now you don't know if she is an ally or foe._

"Will you draw again?" No one could miss the feline amusement in Anna's voice.

"I can choose?" Robin tilts her head questioningly.

"Of course. The more cards you play the more you can see, but…"

"But," I cut in, "A life best lived is one that does not interest the gods." This time I meet Anna's gaze with my own, unwilling to back down. "A Manakin Deck is a weapon just as much as it is a divination tool. To most of _them_, we are but pawns on a board. The Deck is one of the few ways _they_ get to make their moves. It is one of the few ways _they_ get to communicate and taunt each other."

I dared Anna to say otherwise, but instead she smirks.

Robin bites her lip in thought.

Then she reaches for another card. The Hero King.

"Of course _he_ will be the first to stand up against him." Anna says as if it explained everything, "He doesn't know it yet, but your princeling will have to fight Grima at one point or another."

The Hero King looked different last I used the Manakin Deck, it looks like he was charging headlong towards an enemy whilst at the same time evading another. In one hand was a Falchion, in the other a tattered red ribbon. _Who are you running from, King of Kings?_ _Why is your armor so damaged? _Robin is thinking the same thing. She draws one more card and then stops.

Anna smiles, "You learn fast."

Robin picks up the card she drew and looked at it thoughtfully, "What do the stormwatchers say?"

"Clear skies, day and night for the next week." Anna answers.

"Perhaps I should retire to my room and prepare." She sets down Father Time's Hourglass. "We sail for Valmese at sun up."

* * *

Robin left first, but I hung back to talk to Anna. Alone.

"Let me say, irrevocably and in no uncertain terms, that she is not yours and will never be yours."

Anna's grin did not falter, "You're very protective of her. And her feelings."

"Of course. She's me. I will do whatever needs to be done. But she is off limits for you. I want your word."

"Take a card." She holds up the Deck to me.

"Your word." I repeat.

"A contract is a contract." She says cheerfully, "Take a card."

I draw the Coin. Of course I draw the Coin.

"If you break your word…" I started to warn. Anna's smile dropped. The air around me trembled with anger and tempted patience.

Suddenly, I was not talking to Anna. Gone was the mischievous merchant, gone was the feline amusement. The Secret Seller, the Midnight Merchant, the Scarlet Shopkeeper, gone. Here I was talking to a powerful being who could level cities and destroy countries. A being who could live past the rise and fall of Ylisse. A being who could wipe me out of existence with the ease of a man stepping on an insect.

Then, she spoke with the finality of a collapsing star. "I won't."

The trembling stopped and Anna was back as though nothing had happened.

"Have a good night!" She says with that sly smile, shooing me out of the stall. In my hand where a Manakin card used to be, was a silver coin.

I am surrounded on all sides by dangerous women.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter took a lot longer to write, for that I apologize. I had to write, re-write, and re-re-rewrite this until I was happy with it. That and with the rush of a new term and the end of test season left me a very busy person.

I'm extremely thankful for all of the new follows and reviews! This chapter is slow but puts the rest of the story in motion. Hopefully you'll enjoy it!


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